Method for spinning wool from igneous rock



Oct. 13, 1970 3533,769- I umuon FOR srmums' woo; FROM IenEouS hock I J.J. BAIER EM!- 2 Shee ts-Sheet 1 v Filed Sept. 1, 1967 NVENTORS ,Oct.13,1970. I I I J. J. BAIER ETA!- v j v METHOD FOR srnmme *woon raom mucusno'qx Filed se i. 1. 1967 T ii 'rawfyf/7amefance' United States Patent01 Ffice 3,533,769 Patented Oct. 13, 1970 3,533,769 METHOD FOR SPINNINGWOOL FROM IGNEOUS ROCK John J. Baier, 518 Manhasset Woods Road,Manhasset, N.Y. 11030, and Raymond J. Demaison, 642 Locust St.,Fleetwood, Mount Vernon, N.Y. 10552 Filed Sept. 1, 1967, Ser. No.665,024 Int. Cl. C03b 37/04 US. Cl. 65-6 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Method comprises spinning igneous rock, such as lava, basaltor black obsidian glass, into long fine fibers, which comprises thesteps of melting or converting the igneous rock into a molten condition,forming the molten material into a continuous downwardly directedstream, breaking up the downwardly divided continuous stream into minuteindividual globules and then subjecting the individual globules to aseries of continuously applied forces which will convert the globulesinto radially spun out fibers.

The present invention is related to a method for spinning long fiberedwool from igneous rock, such as lava, basalt or black obsidian glass, ona rapidly rotating disc. In the practice of the invention it is possibleto vary the fiber diameters and lengths and also the structure of theindividual fibers from an amorphous to a crystalline state as desired.

In accordance with the present invention, it is proposed to melt lava,basalt rock or black obsidian glass in a suitable furnace arranged todischarge a constant molten stream of suitable viscosity downwardly ontoa rapidly rotating disc which is used to spin the molten stream intolong fine fibers. The speed of the rotating disc will be great enough tobreak up the continuous stream of molten material into continuousstreams of minute globules on the face thereof. The continuous streamsof minute globules are then subjected to a series of forces while theyare still in a liquid form to cause them to spin out fibers ofcontrolled lengths and diameters with either an amorphous or crystallinestructure.

An object of this invention is to allow the production of eitheramorphous or crystalline structure fibers'on the same apparatus from thesame continuous stream of molten material by the simple expedient ofvarying the temperature of the continuous stream of molten materialbeing fed continuously downwardly onto the rapidly rotating disc.

A further object of the invention is to be able to control the lengthsand diameters of the fibers by varying the peripheral speed of therotating disc and the shape of the grooves formed on the face thereof aswell as the volume of material contained in the constant stream ofmolten material.

A still further object of the invention is to make use of the naturalforce of gravity of the stream of molten material as well as the abilityto vary the flame heat and velocity thereof being constantly applied tothe rotating disc to thus supply forces which are variable to allowdifferent diameters and lengths to be produced.

And a still further object of the invention is to provide a rotatingdisc which will automatically take care of variations in the placementof the continuous stream of molten material which normally occur duringoperation where eddy currents are formed.

It must be understood that there is no attempt being made herein toclaim a furnace per se for melting the igneous rock therein as there areany number of designs which may be used which will insure the productionof a continuous stream of molten material of given volume which may thenbe spun out into fibers to form the wool. The designs of these furnacesare such that they will even supply the flame for continuously heatingthe disc and also supply one of the forces used to cause the minuteglobules to be spun out into fibers. Where this is not possible, it isan easy matter to supply the flame from an auxiliary source separatefrom the furnace.

There is a great deal of prior art in the field of spinning fibers fromglass, slag and other types of rock to produce wool but lava and basaltare very hard to spin as they require very close temperature controleven up to the point of formation of the tiny globules and beyond tomaintain the globule temperature until it has fully spun out all themolten material contained therein. The igneous rocks also tend to formslag on the rotating disc which prevents the proper use of the spinningmeans being used thereon. The rotating disc of the instant inventionprecludes this situation from taking place by first providing a disc ofmaterial which does not allow the slag to adhere to it and, secondly,the shape of the outwardly and upwardly ramped V shaped grooves is suchthat centrifugal force will spin the slag right off the disc. The priorart discs used on glass and other types of rock used turned up edgeswith various contours and in some instances the contoured raised edgescontained a series of holes, notches or slots of suitable diameter toallow the material to be fed therethrough.

The rotating disc of the instant invention is formed with a suitableseries of outwardly and upwardly ramped V-shaped grooves forming aseries of parallel concentric annular depressions on its upper face,each successive groove proceeding inwardly from the outside edge beingformed at a slightly higher elevation than the preceding groove to thusallow the fibers to be continuously spun outwardly from the continuousstream of minute globules contained therein without interfering with thefibers being spun from the adjoining grooves. The use of this series ofconcentric grooves allow for variations in the flow pattern of thedownwardly descending continuous stream of molten material beingcontinuously fed thereto and thus form a suitable series of multipleparallel paths into which the molten material may be continuouslydistributed and which form a plurality of continuous streams of minuteglobules that can be spun out into fibers of suitable lengths anddiameters. The V-shaped grooves therefore form a series of concentricparallel paths which are self-cleaning due to their shape andtemperature, even to the extent of throwing off any slag formed thereon.In addition, the instant rotating disc design cuts down the weight onthe outboard edge, thus necessitating less power to bring the disc up tospeed as well as less likelihood of rim failure due to a greater masscontained on said outboard edge. In other words, a built-in safetyfactor is automatically attained.

The disc may be made of suitable alloy steels having suitable grainstructures to produce the type of fibers desired and must be verycarefully balanced both statically and dynamically to insure perfectbalance (both at rest and at top speeds) as it is operated attemperatures of around 2000 continuously day after day in order to keepthe individual globules in a fiuid state to spin out maximum lengths offibers before the viscosity increases and cuts off the fiber. Theglobule that is left is then flung off as shot and constitutes wastematerial, so that it is evident that in order to get maximum productionit is necessary to keep the globules in a highly fluid state in order tokeep the viscosity at a point Where all the material will be forced outof the globules and they disappear with little or no shot. It must beremembered that the rotating disc is being turned at an extremely highrate of speed resulting in high peripheral speeds which form one of theforces that are employed to spin out the fibers.

The rotating disc driving unit is self contained and is arranged tooperate continuously 24 hours per day 7 days per week and is containedon wheels arranged to run on a suitable track which allows the unit tobe removed from under the molten stream for servicing or replacementwhen necessary. The unit is arranged to 'be water cooled and has forcedfeed lubrication of oil which carries away a great deal of the heat fromthe bearings while the water takes care of the rest in addition tocooling the oil. The driving and pumping units are completely enclosedand the enclosure is also continuously air cooled. The diameters of thediscs vary from 7" minimum to a maximum of 14" with rotative speedsvarying from 5000 r.p.m. to 15,000 r.p.m. which naturally necessitatecontinuous flow of cool oil to both lubricate and carry off the heat.The peripheral speeds of the outside rims of the disc vary from aminimum of 9000 feet per min. to 55,000 feet per minute, and it is thisvariation in speed combined with the other variables which permits thespinning of fibers of any desired length and diameters. The othervariant that is employed in the control of the spinning of the fibers isthe shape and the depth of the series of outwardly and upwardly rampedV-shaped grooves which also supply some of the forces employed to causethe minute globules to spin out the fibers therefrom. The actions of theforces taking place in the spinning of the fibers from the minuteglobules are simultaneous and constantly applied and consist of theupwardly directed force caused by the upwardly and outwardly rampedV-shaped grooves in conjunction with centrifugal force andsimultaneously subjecting the minute globules to the downwardly directedforce caused by gravity and the flame impinging continuously thereon tothus form the initial spinning forces and continuously squeeze theminute globules and cause minute surface breaks or holes to open up intheir sides in the direction of travel of the disc and cause the moltenmaterial contained therein to be squeezed out in a tangential directionas a fine fiber of desired diameter and length. The fiber lengthattained can vary from to 35 and the fiber diameters down to microns orbelow as desired.

It is readily apparent that, as the peripheral speed is increased andthe volume of the continuous stream held constant, the continuous streamwill be broken up into a greater number of minute globules and,conversely, as the speed is decreased the continuous stream will bebroken up into a lesser number of globules with the globule sizebecoming smaller as the speed is increased and larger as the speed isdecreased. The speed therefore forms a primary means for controlling thefiber diameter and length, and a secondary means being the volumecontained in the continuous stream, while a tertiary means consists ofvariations in the flame being employed to impinge on the minute globulescontained in the V-shaped grooves. The contour of the V-shaped groovescan be varied and thus vary the force applied to the globules by theoutwardly and upwardly ramped V-shaped grooves operating in conjunctionwith centrifugal force. The continuous stream of molten material will insome instances bridge over one or more V-shaped groove depending on itsdiameter to thus cause variations in fiber diameters due to smallerglobules being formed. It is therefore desirable to have the streambridge two grooves to provide equal distribution of the molten materialif at all possible.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing statements will be set forth specifically orbe made apparent in the following description of a typical embodiment ofthe invention which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich FIG. 1 is a top view of the rapidly rotating disc showing theplurality of parallel concentric rings containing 4 V-shaped grooveswith outwardly and upwardly ramped sides. The continuous stream ofmolten material is shown in section dropping downwardly into theV-shaped grooves to form a continuous stream of minute globules in eachgroove while the area covered by the flame is also shown;

FIG. 2 is a section taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1 and clearly showsthe continuous stream of molten material falling into the V-shapedgrooves and being broken up therein into streams of minute globules andin addition shows the flame impinging on the disc and wiping by the edgethereof. The difference in elevation of the V-shaped grooves is alsoclearly brought out;

FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged section taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1and clearly shows the fibers being spun out from the minute globules invarious planes one over the other with no interference whatsoever;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section of a single V-shaped groove of FIG. 3 andclearly shows the minute globules being squeezed out as it lies on theoutwardly and upwardly ramped face of said groove and is being actedupon by the spinning forces; and

FIG. 5 is a force diagram centered about the minute globule to depictthe action of the forces on said globule.

A's clearly shown in 'FIG. 1, the rotating disc 10 is formed with aseries of parallel concentric V-shaped grooves 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16which present upwardly and outwardly ramped up faces to allow the minuteglobules to be continuously formed from a downwardly descendingcontinuous stream 20 of molten material and produce continuous streams21 and 22 in the V-shaped grooves 11 and 12. The continuous streams ofminute globules that are formed in the V-shaped grooves 11 and 12 arethen acted upon by the forces employed, as will be explained later, tocause the spinning out of fibers from the individual globules as shownat 23. The whole area encompassed within the dotted rectangle 24 iscontinuously subjected to a downwardly directed tongue of flame to keepthe rotating disc at a spinning temperature and in addition keep thestream of molten material and the minute globules also in a moltencondition at a suitable viscosity for dispersion and spinning. -It canreadily be seen that if the stream of molten material 20 moves inwardlytoward the center of the rotating disc 10, it will still allow themolten material to fall into the V-shaped grooves 13, 14 and 15 wherethe minute globules will be formed and spun out into fibers. The fibersare spun off in a tangential direction starting from the point ofcontact of the molten material 20 with the disc 10 and the spinningaction continues for approximately 270 therefrom. It is thereforenecessary to have sufiicient space around the spinner in order to obtainfibers of maximum length and in addition control and collect the smallamount of shot emitted therefrom.

The section shown in FIG. 2 clearly shows the continuous stream ofmolten material 20 dropping downwardly under the influence of gravityinto the V-shaped grooves 11 and 12 to form the continuous stream ofminute globules 21 and 22 therein. The downwardly directed tongue offlame 24 is also shown and it can readily be seen how this flame keepsthe disc hot as it wipes over the forward edge and is redirected towardthe center of the disc to insure even temperatures over the entire discarea. The main impact spot is in the V-shaped grooves and these, due totheir upstanding teeth, absorb the heat very readily and form perfectbackgrounds for the spinning of the fibers from the tiny globules bykeeping the molten material in fluid form. The grain structure of thematerial of which the disc is formed also enters into the spinningprocess because of the materials ability to cause the globules to adherethereto and not be thrown off.

The section shown in FIG. 3 is enlarged to more graphically show how thefibers are spun out without interfering with one another. The outwardlyand upward- 1y ramped V-shaped grooves 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 are soarranged that the lip of each is higher as we proceed inwardly from theoutboard edge to thus allow the fibers to be spun separately andindependently from each V-shaped groove.

In FIG. 4 the section of a single V-shaped groove 11 of FIG. 3 isfurther enlarged to more clearly show how the minute globules 30-,starting and being formed at the bottom of the groove, are graduallyforced outwardly up the face of the groove and thus be squeezedcontinuously to cause them to open up a minute hole in the side andexude the molten material contained therein to form a continuous fiber31 therefrom.

The forces employed consist of the centrifugal force generated by therotating disc in conjunction with the upwardly ramped face of the grooveand the force of gravity of the downwardly descending stream of moltenmaterial together with the force of the flame directed downwardly ontothe disc. These forces in combination therefore continuously react tocause the minute globules to spin out fibers practically all the wayaround the disc, as the action once started is continued undercentrifugal force which tends to act in a flat plane in conjunction withthe upward ramp of the V-shaped groove without the aid of the flame andgravity. The outwardly ramped up face may be changed in contour from astraight line as shown to an upwardly curved face depending on the typeand length of fibers desired.

In FIG. 5 are shown the forces and their direction that are continuouslyoperating on the minute globules to cause them to open a minute hole intheir side and exude the molten material therethrough until the globuleis empty. The force supplied by the downwardly directed flame can bevaried and the force due to gravity can also be varied by changing thevolume of the stream of molten material to thus vary the two downwardlydirecting forces which cause the initial flattening and the opening of ahole in the side of the globule to take place in conjunction withcentripetal and centrifugal force and the ramped up face. This initialaction is a squeezing action and once it is started it is carried onunder the continuous action of centrifugal force which tends to spin theglobule off in a flat plane against the restraining force of the rampedup face of the groove to cause the globule to continue to spin out thefiber until the globule is empty. As before stated, the fiber diametersand lengths may readily be controlled by varying the forces at work aswell as by controlling the size of the minute globules.

What is claimed is:

1. A method for spinning molten igneous rock such as lava, basalt, blackobsidian glass and the like, into long fine fibers which comprisesforming minute individual molten globules of said rock by directing acontinuous stream of said molten rock onto a peripheral marginal surfaceportion of a spinning disc which surface extends radially outwardly ofthe disc and backwardly with respect to said stream direction whileencompassing said stream in a flame impinging on said disc, and exertinga force including the force of said flame on said globules to resisttheir outward radial displacement in globular form from the disc whilespinning the disc at a speed to convert the globules into spun outfibers.

2. A method for spinning igneous rock according to claim 1, whereindimensional characteristics of the fibers including length and diameterare varied by varying at least one of the operating conditions whichinclude disc spinning speed, force of flame impingement on the disc, andstream volume.

'3. A method for spinning igneous rock according to claim 1, wherein thestream is varied in temperature to vary the physical structure of theresulting fibers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,153,739 4/ 1939- Buss 62,884,659 5/ 1959 Powell 656 3,246,971 4/ l966 Rudin 658 S. LEONBA'SHORE, Primary Examiner R. L. LINDSAY, IR., Assistant Examiner U.S.c1. X.R.

